Tag Archive: social media

Social media: driving up award show ratings?

Written on March 12, 2010 by Stephanie in Facebook, Twitter, celebrity, news, social media
0 Comments - Leave a comment!

Photo credit: Oscar.com

More than 41.3 million people tuned in to the Academy Awards Sunday night, despite advance media coverage calling the Oscar race predictable (and laying all the gold statuettes at the big blue feet of Avatar).  That’s the biggest audience since 2005. (Million Dollar Baby was the big winner that night.)

So the Oscar audience was up. Know what else?

  • The Golden Globe Awards were up 14% from the previous year.
  • The People’s Choice Awards were up 15%.
  • The Grammy Awards were up 35.8% over last year.

It’s not just awards shows. The 2010 Super Bowl garnered 106 million viewers — becoming the most-watched event in TV history. While this article quotes media experts saying the bad economy keeps more people at home and the productions have gotten better, I don’t think that has changed viewership.

While television executives have blamed the internet for fragmenting audiences, I think the internet plus laptops plus smartphones is bringing them together. Hello! Social media.  We’re connecting via portable technology.

A few years ago we put our big clunky computer desktops in a spare bedroom or a home office — a room that usually didn’t have a television. But now we’re surfing and tweeting and facebooking on our laptops or BlackBerries or iPhones in our living rooms, dens or bedrooms and it’s like being at an Oscar party, a Grammy party or a Super Bowl party.

You want to hear what your snarky friend is saying about SJP’s hair or gown, or praise Jeff Bridges’ heartfelt, yet groovy, man speech. You might have tweeted “Imma let you finish” when that redhaired woman pulled a Kanye during  the Music by Prudence documentary producer’s speech. (Turns out she produced it too.) And you might even admit that you both laughed and got a little misty during Sandra Bullock’s acceptance speech.

I did. I tweeted during many of these shows and talked about the rest of them on Facebook.  I’ve watched these shows in years past –sometimes they were on in the background while I put together an 11pm newscast that followed. (What do you MEAN the show is running over?!!!)  Other times, before kids, I had seen several nominated movies and wondered why I hadn’t seen the others — so I tuned in to see what video I should rent in the future.  (Side note: as a mom with two daughters, I can accurately predict the animated feature winner every year, having seen the entire category and then some. The one year I got it wrong: Happy Feet.)

So I suggest this pop culture crowdsourcing is driving up awards show ratings. In an age when we feel comfortable talking about every little opinion on Twitter or Facebook, check in to be the mayor of our local Starbucks on Foursquare or write blog posts like this one, being a part of the conversation in real time is almost as good as being at a party or the event itself.

Do you find yourself watching an awards show, or even your favorite series logged in to your favorite social media site to chat about the program? Do you think it’s just the bad economy keeping people glued to their TVs? Or have the productions become better? (Seriously? I mean, there was an homage to horror movies during the Academy Awards this year people!)

Tell me what you think is driving up ratings. I’d love to chat with you about it. Until Grey’s Anatomy comes on and then I’m talking about Bailey’s big date.

Tags: , , ,

The Power of PR and Twitter

Written on September 28, 2009 by Stephanie in PR, Technology; twitter, public relations, social media
0 Comments - Leave a comment!

Valeria Maltoni, whose blog Conversation Agent I’ve been following for a few months, posted a list of 100 PR people using Twitter she recommends because they’re helpful. You may recognize a few names, but you probably won’t recognize them all.
Not everyone likes a list like this, but I figure if someone’s gone to the trouble to compile a list, filled with links, that explains the person’s background a little, it’s worth checking out.

As I clicked through the list, checking people out, I found that some people I thought I’d been following had dropped off my Twitter profile. There were some hiccups months ago with people being added and deleted accidentally all over Twitter.
So this list not only allowed me to find some new PR colleagues to follow, but to re-follow people I thought I’d been following in the first place. You follow?

Is there anyone you’d add to the list?

Tags: ,

How to "get" Twitter

Written on September 27, 2009 by Stephanie in Technology; twitter, Uncategorized, public relations, social media, word of mouth
0 Comments - Leave a comment!

Twitter's new home page is designed to help newbies figure out the microblogging service.

Twitter's new home page is designed to help newbies figure out the microblogging service.

You’ve probably heard someone say they don’t “get” Twitter. I hear that a lot, especially since I’m pretty active on Twitter and I tell all my colleagues and people I meet about it. I understand the confusion. It can be a lot like attending a huge party, solo, where you don’t know a soul. Everyone’s talking, they’re in a conversation. You could feel overwhelmed. Shy. Not sure which conversation to join, or even if there is a conversation out there that addresses your passion.

So use that party analogy to get your feet wet. You wouldn’t bust into the party and start shouting at the top of your lungs about your company, your product, your newscast, your blog or your children’s accomplishments, right? You’d probably walk around the room, smile on your face, looking for an opportunity to talk about something that interests you, meet some new people, maybe by starting with your neighbor at the bar or buffet line.

So here are some ideas for getting your conversation started on Twitter:

1. Listen. Use the Twitter search tools (there’s a search box right on the home page) to find conversations regarding topics you’re passionate about. You can search with a keyword to start with, like books, public relations, marketing, or health care. You can also search for Twitter users to follow by using sites like Twellow (a yellow pages-type listing), Twitter Grader or by checking out the people your Twitter friends are following. There are even sites that lists journalists who use Twitter, which is handy for my public relations colleagues.

2. Talk transparently. Be human and honest about what you are doing and who you represent. You don’t get all dressed up in a costume to go to the grocery store — you’re yourself there. Be yourself on Twitter.

3. Remember that Twitter is not a broadcast channel for your company, your blog posts or your personal branding efforts. You should be passing along good information that everyone can use. For every one Tweet about your branding/your company/your blog, you should be passing along 4-5 other Tweets about interesting information, responding to other people’s Tweets and otherwise genuinely conversing. I’ve seen some recommend a 10:1 ratio,  others say 80/20% or even 30/30/30.

As they say in Pirates of the Caribbean about the Pirate Code … “They’re more of a guideline, really”. So jump in the Twitter pool. The water’s fine. We’re starting a game of Marco Polo in a few minutes and you’re invited.

Tags: , ,